Blog 1

Blog 1
Introduction
This essay will describe the stereotypes that are commonly held about individuals suffering from mental illness. It will discuss why these stereotypes exist, how they are formed during childhood and how they are maintained during adulthood. The essay will also suggest some ways in which they could be changed. Stereotypes are defined as a set of opinions that link groups of individuals with particular characteristics. Stereotypes can be positive or negative, and altering them is a demanding task. A reason why society uses stereotypes is because they make it easier to understand other people and do not require a great deal of effort to use (Baumeister & Bushman, 2008).

Description of the stereotypes
The most common stereotype is that mental illness sufferers are dangerous individuals. They lack the ability to control their behaviour and are unpredictable, violent and aggressive. The idea of a psychotic murderer or maniac is popular (Byrne, 2000). Mental illness sufferers are often stereotyped as humourous figures. This is commonly found in film and television. Mentally ill characters are often used as comedy material and created for viewers to laugh at rather than laugh with (Byrne). There is a tendency for society to apply the benevolence stigma to mental illness sufferers. This involves stereotyping them as pathetic, naive and childlike characters whose lives need to be managed by a parental figure (Corrigan & Watson, 2004). They may also be stereotyped as being inadequate in character and lacking in common sense and initiative. They are sometimes stereotyped as being weak-willed and incompetent, and therefore responsible for their condition (Corrigan & Watson). Some other stereotypes label the mentally ill as lazy, dishonest and self-centered individuals with an abnormally high sex drive (Byrne). It is not uncommon for society to stereotype the mentally ill as unintelligent individuals who cannot hold down a job or contribute to society, and instead are a burden to society (Arboleda-Florez, 2003).

Why the stereotypes exist
According to Hayward and Bright (1997), there are four likely explanations of why the mental illness stereotype exists. The most direct reason is the idea of dangerousness, that is, people are afraid of mentally ill individuals because they perceive them as inclined to commit violent acts (Hayward & Bright). The second reason is the idea of attribution of responsibility. Members of society tend to perceive individuals with mental illness to be more responsible for their conditions than, for instance, AIDS patients or war veterans. The general public also tends to feel anger and avoidance towards the mentally ill instead of compassion, and tends to be unwilling to offer them assistance. This suggests that society believes that the mentally ill make a conscious decision to act as they do (Hayward & Bright). Another possible reason is the idea that conditions viewed to be difficult to treat with a low prognosis are stigmatized more. Those who hold this belief are more likely to socially avoid sufferers of mental illness (Hayward & Bright). Finally, there is the idea of disruption of normal social interactions. This idea states that mentally ill people are unable to interact in the standard way, and most people would prefer to avoid situations in which the usual rules of socializing are not present. People are thus apprehensive around mental illness sufferers, whom they believe to be unpredictable and unable to conform to the unwritten rules of society (Hayward & Bright).

How the stereotypes are formed
Individuals commonly establish negative attitudes to mental illness sufferers during the early childhood years, attitudes which persist into adulthood (Byrne, 2000). How children develop stereotypes of mental illness has interested some researchers. It is certainly likely that influential figures in a child's life such as parents and other family, friends and teachers play an important role. According to theories of development, the mass media provide a consistent set of images that are absorbed by children, whose views of the world are still being formed (Wahl, 2003). Wahl conducted a literature search to examine how mental illness is depicted in television programs, films, cartoons, comics, popular music and music videos for children and adolescents. He reached numerous conclusions, firstly that there is a wide variety of material available to impressionable young audiences, from which they may form opinions about mental illness. Negative stereotypes predominate in this material. The message they send is that the appropriate response to mental illness sufferers is ridicule and isolation rather than empathy and support (Wahl). Disrespectful slang terms for mental illness are frequently used rather than medical or professional terms. This suggests that this is an acceptable way to address sufferers. Wahl thus stated that the highly influential media promotes the formation of negative stereotypes about mental illness sufferers during childhood.

How the stereotypes are maintained
The mass media is of paramount importance in shaping society's attitudes and beliefs. Research has consistently demonstrated that the mass media portrays mental illness negatively and promotes negative stereotypes. Messages from the media frequently link mental illness with violence and aggression. For instance, cases of mentally ill persons committing violent crimes are given much more prominence in the news than positive stories relating to mental illness. This biased way of reporting helps to reinforce the negative stereotypes (Dietrich, Heider, Matschinger, & Angermeyer, 2006). The media fails to inform the public that only a very slight minority of mental illness sufferers commits violent crimes. Consequently, all sufferers of mental illness are stereotyped due to the actions of a few (Arboleda-Florez, 2003). The media also supports this stereotype through the presentation of films containing characters who are both violent and mentally ill, for example 'The Silence of the Lambs' (Noe, 1997). According to Noe, a process known as handicapism also contributes to the maintenance of the mental illness stereotype. Handicapism refers to a collection of assumptions and methods that encourage people to treat the disabled differently from other individuals. Handicapism prevents individuals with mental illness from developing positive social relationships. This leads to isolation as well as the prevalence of negative attitudes and stereotypes towards the mentally ill (Noe).

How the stereotypes could be reduced
Research has yielded three strategies available for reducing stereotypes. Protest involves calling upon individuals to suppress their stereotypical attitudes by using shame and guilt-inducing tactics. Education involves replacing fallacies about mental illness with accurate information. Contact involves challenging people's stereotypical attitudes by enabling them to socialize directly with mental illness sufferers (Corrigan et al., 2001). A study conducted by Corrigan et al. was designed to examine the effectiveness of each of these strategies. Results found that protest is not a highly effective method for reducing stereotypes, and may result in a rebound effect. This occurs when persons who are told to suppress negative stereotypes become abnormally sensitive to them, which results in unwanted memories about the stigmatized group (Corrigan et al.). Education was met with some success, in that it led to participants linking more positive qualities with mental illness sufferers. After the study, these participants were also more likely to agree that persons with mental illness do benefit from therapy, thus recovery is possible. The researchers also noticed that the more credible and likeable participants found the education leader, the more their attitudes improved (Corrigan et al.).

According to an earlier study conducted by Huxley (1993), people who had simply come upon a mental illness sufferer while out in public were more likely to stereotype them. However, those who had some direct contact with a mentally ill person, such as through being related or acquainted with them, were less likely to use stereotypes. These people were especially unlikely to use stereotypes if the mentally ill person they knew were receiving appropriate therapy (Huxley). The study by Corrigan et al. (2001) supported these findings. Participants who experienced the contact method listened to a ten-minute presentation of an individual discussing their theory of mental illness, followed by a five-minute conversation with them. After the study, these participants were found to have undergone the greatest attitude change. Although further research is ideal, current findings suggest that a variety of forms of contact with mental illness sufferers are highly influential in reducing stereotypical attitudes (Corrigan et al.).

Conclusion
It is thus evident that various negative stereotypes are held about mental illness sufferers. The reasons for the stereotypes' existence are numerous and complex. The mass media is highly influential in the formation and maintenance of these stereotypes. However, strategies are available to help reduce them, with studies demonstrating that contact is the most effective, and education also being worthwhile.

References
Arboleda-Florez, J. (2003). Considerations on the stigma of mental illness. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 48, 645-650.

Baumeister, R. F., & Bushman, B. J. (2008). Social Psychology and Human Nature. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

Byrne, P. (2000). Stigma of mental illness and ways of diminishing it. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 6, 65-72.

Corrigan, P. W., River, L. P., Lundin, R. K., Penn, D. L., Uphoff-Wasowski, K., Campion, J., Mathisen, J., Gagnon, C., Bergman, M., Goldstein, H., & Kubiak, M. A. (2001). Three strategies for changing attributions about severe mental illness. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 27, 187-195.

Corrigan, P. W., & Watson, A. C. (2004). At issue: Stop the stigma: Call mental illness a brain disease. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 30, 477-479.

Dietrich, S., Heider, D., Matschinger, H., & Angermeyer, M. C. (2006). Influence of newspaper reporting on adolescents' attitudes toward people with mental illness. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 41, 318-322.

Hayward, P., & Bright, J. A. (1997). Stigma and mental illness: A review and critique. Journal of Mental Health, 6, 345-354.

Huxley, P. (1993). Location and stigma: A survey of community attitudes to mental illness - part 1. Enlightenment and stigma. Journal of Mental Health, 2, 73-80.

Noe, S. R. (1997). Discrimination against individuals with mental illness. Journal of Rehabilitation, 63, 1-10. Retrieved August 21, 2007, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0825/is_n1_v63/ai_19178150/print

Wahl, O. F. (2003). Depictions of mental illness in children's media. Journal of Mental Health, 12, 249-258.

Appendix A: Self-assessment
For the theory component of assessment, I attempted to find, understand and refer to relevant psychological theories throughout my blog, for instance, utilizing the developmental theory. For the research component, I aimed to conduct a thorough search of the psychological literature. I made sure to check all of the leading psychology databases for relevant information, including Academic Search Premier, PsycINFO, Academic OneFile, Health Reference Center and PubMed Central. I managed to reach the guideline of ten references. For the written expression component, I achieved a Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of 12.0, Flesch Reading Ease of 28.3 and 17% of sentences were passive. Word count came to 1415 words. I included underlined subheadings in my blog to increase its reading ease, and I made a conscious effort of adhere to the APA citation style.

For the online engagement component, I attempted to demonstrate a high level of engagement by drafting and publishing my blog online. While researching the stereotypes associated with mental illness, I came across one woman's account of the prejudice she had experienced as a result of her mental illness, so I made sure to include a link to it in my blog, to enable others to also read her story. I was also able to attract several meaningful comments to my blog. When publishing my concept map, at first I was only able to get a partial image of it on my blog page. I thus decided to replace it with a link to the website containing it. That way, readers would be able to scroll up and down and left and right to get a clear view of the entire concept map. Regarding ways I could improve for blog 2, next time I will try to leave enough time to comment on other students' blogs. While writing blog 1 I encountered some technical difficulties, leading to several of my paragraphs being erased by accident. I thus had to re-write them, which left me with no time to write comments for other students' blogs.